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Definition of piddock in US English:

piddock

noun

A bivalve mollusk which bores into soft rock or other firm surfaces. The valves of the shell have a conspicuous gap between them and rough frontal ridges to aid in boring.

Pholas and other genera, family Pholadidae

‘This member of the Piddock family lives intertidally in mud and peat banks.’

‘The White piddock has mostly been described as smaller than the American one, but at the Belgian coast, opposite results have been found.’

‘The piddock has a thin, brittle shell that is similar in shape and sculpturing on both sides.’

‘Some boring shellfish bore with chemistry, but the American piddock is a mechanical borer  repetitively grinding its shell with a rotating movement backward and forward to create a burrow for itself in softer substrates in the shallows of the intertidal zones.’

‘In SE Asia piddocks may be boiled and eaten with sauce and rice, or sautéed with shallots, or made into a curry.’